


Burned into the Skin

by Casey_Wolfe



Category: Fast and the Furious Series
Genre: Alternate Canon, Angst (minor), Established Relationship, Estrangement, Family (minor), Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Post-Movie(s), Rare Pairings, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 22:32:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4853018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Casey_Wolfe/pseuds/Casey_Wolfe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brian and Owen have been separated for so long that they never really thought they’d have the chance at reconciliation.  Owen’s near death experience makes them each see what they have to lose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burned into the Skin

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU where Brian never met Team Toretto, but it has spoilers for the end of Fast 6 and the beginning of Furious 7.
> 
> Thanks to Queenie and Vesul for letting me bounce ideas off them. And to Hellbells for making sure my Brit-speak was good.

When Deckard walked into the hospital room, he stopped dead in the doorway.  The man seated by his brother’s bed he thought never to see again.  “Brian,” he growled, crossing the space in an instant.  He had the blonde pulled out of the chair, hands around his throat as he slammed Brian back against the wall and window.

The commotion naturally woke Owen.  “Deckard!” he yelled, crying out in pain as he got up too quickly.

Brian’s hands were wrapped around Deckard’s as he dropped his chin to keep the man from cutting off his air completely.  Bringing his knee up, Brian tried to shove Deckard back but the bastard had the leverage.  Brian’s superior height had been nullified by the elder Shaw’s tactics.

“Back off!” Owen growled with as much force as he could muster, digging blunt nails into his brother’s arm.  “ _Now_ Deck!”

Deckard did what he was told, but not before giving Brian a good shove that cracked his head off the window.  The blonde rubbed at his throat, coughing a little.  “You’re still an asshole I see,” he threw out, glaring at Deckard who did the same back.

“Brian.”  Owen’s voice was gentle as he reached out for him.  “When did you get here?  I…”  He shook his head, deciding not to worry about it.  “Are you okay?”

Brian shrugged off his hand.  “Fine,” he grunted, straightening.  The look on his face was rather icy.  “Dunno why I bothered coming here at all.”

He headed for the door, Owen reaching out and snagging his forearm.  “This is how it’s going to be?” he asked, emotion plain in his voice.

“Yeah.”  Brian guarded his.

“When the hell did you get so cold to me?” Owen demanded, eyes narrowed.

Brian yanked his arm back, staring around Owen to his big brother.  He commented loudly, “I’m told it’s a Shaw trait.”  Deckard only scoffed and looked away.

Without another word, Brian turned and left, leaving Owen feeling as though he’d been punched.

Deckard reached out to him, voice almost gentle as he said, “You need to sit back down.  You don’t have your strength back yet.”

Owen didn’t fight, which was in itself unusual but said so much about his current state of mind.  He looked up at his brother and asked, “He’s been coming to see me?  Since when?”  Deckard only shrugged.  Owen looked back at the door and felt his chest clench.

“They’re lettin’ you out in a few days,” Deckard said instead.  “Figured you’d stay with me awhile.”

Owen didn’t reply.  He was too busy thinking about the fact that Brian had been there.  After everything that happened, after everything that had been said, he never thought to see the man again.  If he was indeed going to be released soon then he would have to start figuring out where Brian was going to be.

* * *

It took almost a week but Owen ended up finding him.  It wasn’t as though Brian were hiding necessarily.  Hell, most people would accuse him of _wanting_ to be found.  After all, he was settled into a back booth at one of the pubs they frequented together.  That was before the falling out.

As far as the law was concerned the pair may have still been married, however they hadn’t seen each other in nearly a year.  Sitting across from him now, Owen’s warring emotions were clear to see.  Brian couldn’t say that he didn’t feel the same.

“Guinness please,” Owen told the waitress that stopped over.  She looked to Brian who confirmed he’d have another Guinness as well.  “Where’ve you been?” he inquired once she left.

“Around.”  Brian was staring at his glass where his finger was tapping against it in a nervous tick.  After a minute of silence, he looked up to find Owen watching him intently, patiently waiting for a real answer.  With their beers delivered, Brian finally said, “Went to France, Spain, Greece…  Bounced around over Stateside for awhile.”

“Did you go back home?” Owen asked softly.

Brian shook his head.  “Barstow ain’t home to me anymore.  You know that.”

They had been young when they met.  Brian had started a promising career as a police officer that he ran away from after a messy undercover assignment.  It had been a London street race, Owen home on leave from the SAS, and he had gravitated towards the enigmatic blonde.  Brian was bright like the sun, despite the crap he had just gone through, so different from the darkness Owen carried with him everywhere like a cloud.

Neither of them could explain how it happened.  One dance at a club led to a date, which led to more.  While Owen was deployed, Brian traveled around more of Europe, coming right back to London in time to be there when Owen got off the plane.

It was love, plain and simple.  Despite the patches of distance, nothing changed between them.  Brian was hooked and no one could have pried Owen away.  It had been inevitable they married a couple years later.

Not as though it had always been easy.  Deckard was a sensitive topic between them almost from the start, the elder Shaw having been vying for Brian’s affections too.  However Brian hadn’t given him more than a second look the moment Owen was introduced.  Deckard was still sore about the whole thing, taking it out on both of them in rather petty ways.

It had been while Owen was away on deployment, his brother and Brian going out to a local pub they all liked to hang out at.  Deckard sat at the bar, brooding, while Brian was at the other end talking to a group of guys.  When one decided to get frisky, Brian broke his fingers.  Except the dude’s friend got involved then, breaking a bottle on the bartop and going after Brian with it.

Brian was scarred for life.  The angry red slice held together with stitches was what greeted Owen when he got home.  It ran along right next to Brian’s left eye, only mere luck keeping the blonde from losing it completely.  To say Owen and Deckard had a blowup about it was putting it mildly, Owen blaming his older brother for not keeping an eye on Brian, for not stepping in soon enough.

It ended up with both of _them_ getting stitches next, charges for disorderly conduct, and a discharge from the SAS.  Owen had told Deckard to leave and not to come back in no uncertain terms.

Things started to fall apart after that.  Owen didn’t have an outlet for his aggression and even with Deckard’s negative influence gone Brian became bitter.  They fought a lot more than they used to.  The night it almost came to blows, Owen left and took up a room at a local hotel. The space had seemingly done them good but it didn’t last.

Six months after all the fallout from Deckard, Owen had come up with his scheme involving the Nightshade Device.  It may have been brilliant but Brian wanted nothing to do with it.  Ultimatums had been made and when nothing changed Owen had come home to an apartment devoid of Brian’s personal effects.

Which brought them to where they now sat.  Owen had tried in vain to find his husband.  If it was one thing Owen had taught him though, it was how to disappear if needed.  Brian had his law enforcement training to back him up and when he decided not to be found, he wasn’t.

“You came back,” Owen noted.  “Why?”

Brian frowned, reaching out to run a finger along Owen’s left hand.  He went a little higher, pushing up the hem of the long sleeve shirt he wore.  Brian wasn’t the only one with scars now.  Owen’s body had been badly burned and broken in a fall that should have killed him.  Burn scars peppered his left arm and torso, crawling up the side of his neck onto his face.

“I’ve been keeping tabs on you y’know,” Brian answered, looking up to meet his gaze.  “Hobbs and Hicks thought you were dead.  Hell, I did too until I saw you in that hospital bed.”

There had been no arguments with the staff when he said he was staying with Owen no matter what they said.  It was only some time later that he’d learned what Deckard had done.  Stopping in and taking out the entire security team with a very specific threat about taking care of Owen was enough to make anyone nervous.

Through his contacts Brian had learned that the elder Shaw had gone off after Hobbs and Hicks in revenge.  When he got word both DSS Agents were dead, well, Brian figured his time as Owen’s guardian was coming to a close.  Not that he had anticipated Deckard showing up so soon.

“I’m alright,” Owen assured, turning his hand to grasp Brian’s.  “I’m alive.  And you’re here.  What more do I need?”

Brian’s frown only deepened, pulling his hand away.  “I can’t stay.  I can’t do this again.”

“Bri-”

“ _I can’t_.”  Brian looked at him with a pained expression.  “I can’t take the shit that comes out of Deck’s mouth.  I can’t take your indifference.  And I sure as hell can’t take you going off and doing… this.”  His determination faltered, resting back dejectedly into the booth cushion.  “I won’t watch you kill yourself.”

“You won’t,” Owen assured.  “Next time will be flawless.  Deckard’s going to be able to help this time.  All we need is one more piece and-”

“Do you hear yourself?”  Brian shook his head in disbelief as he stood.  “How many second chances do you need O?” he inquired rhetorically.  He didn’t wait around for an answer, setting some bills on the table to cover his drinks before heading for the door.

As expected, Owen was right on his heels.  “Sweetheart, wait.”  When Brian still didn’t stop after hitting the sidewalk, Owen snagged his bicep.  “Please just wait a minute.”  He could feel Brian trembling then and spoke his name softly, “Brian?”

Not looking at him, Brian asked, “Do you have any idea what it was like to look at you in that bed?  To see you hooked up to those machines, not breathing on your own?”  His voice broke and he managed to turn to look at him, tears in his eyes.  “I had to put my head on your chest to hear your heartbeat for myself ‘cause I didn’t believe you were real.”

“I’m real,” he assured gently.

“And I still love you,” was Brian’s reply.  “I never stopped.”

Brian’s resolve broke, launching himself into Owen’s arms.  The tears started to fall and he sobbed when Owen held him back in a vice-like grip.  “I’m so sorry Angel,” Owen said, pressing a kiss to the side of his head.

“So ‘m I,” he replied, practically whimpering as he tried to get even closer.  Hell, if Owen was sitting he expected Brian would crawl right into his lap.  “Please,” he pleaded with a little hiccup, “don’t try to do this again.  I couldn’t stand it if you died.”

Owen felt his heart break. He continued to hold Brian as he rocked him a little bit to calm and comfort him.  “I won’t Bri.  I promise.”

“Good.”  They would have to figure out what to do about Deckard, which was its own level of hellish problem, but for the time being Brian knew what he wanted.  More than anything else it was what he _needed_.  He put his lips to Owen’s ear and spoke, “Take me home.  Please, O.  Take me to bed.”

Owen nodded, pressing a kiss to Brian’s neck.  “Let’s go home Angel.”

Brian’s lips found his, pouring out all the pent up emotion from being without his husband.  It was the longest year of his life and Brian vowed, “Never lettin’ you get away from me again, O.”

“Never,” Owen promised in turn.  “I love you Brian.”

“Love you too.”

Their lips pressed together once more, neither really wanting to part.  Somehow they managed it though, Brian mouthing at his jaw as Owen hailed a cab.

They had a lot of time to make up for.

/End

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://thedenofcaseywolfe.tumblr.com/).


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